To support Avid and help turn the tide of negative media coverage, the lorries team was tasked with:
- Turning the sentiment of media coverage from overwhelmingly negative (71%) to neutral, as measured by at least 50% neutral media coverage within 24 hours.
- Reassuring the editing community that Avid was working diligently to identify the cause of the problem and educating customers on how to prevent it from occurring. This would be measured by at least 50% Avid message penetration in future articles on the problem.
With the script written, it was time for lights, camera, action! We started by maintaining a regular stream of communication with US journalists covering the story while Avid was working behind the scenes to determine the cause of the glitch. We knew it would take time to get to the bottom of the problem, but wanted to keep Avid’s customers informed via the media with regular updates to maintain trust and transparency.
This was supported by UK team, which communicated with journalists in the UK and Europe. This enabled us to maintain regular communication with journalists and respond quickly to incoming media inquiries, despite the significant time zone differences between the US and Europe.
We also disseminated a video of Avid’s CEO and CPO acknowledging the problem, communicating their efforts to identify the cause, and explaining the steps customers needed to take to prevent the problem from happening. The use of Avid’s C-level executives served to demonstrate how seriously Avid was taking the issue.
Finally, we contacted all journalists who covered the issue asking them to update their headlines and stories as soon as Avid could confirm that it was in fact a Google Chrome update that was at fault. This helped to turn the tide of negative media coverage into neutral stories that made it clear Avid wasn’t to blame.
As a result, we met our goals, solidified our media relationships and earned high praise from the client. And Hollywood lived happily ever after. Roll credits.
